When Flying Officer Desmond O’Connell’s bomber plane was sent on a mission to sink the Bismarck in 1941 only to crash into a hill in flames, the 21-year-old was so badly burned his colleagues contacted his mother to make arrangements for his funeral. An observer in the back of the

The Duke of Edinburgh encountered a troublesome Union Flag that refused to budge today as he unveiled a memorial in honour of an inspirational band of badly burned Second World War airmen. A handful of the surviving members of the once 649-strong Guinea Pig Club, now in their eighties and

The Duke of Edinburgh has unveiled a memorial to veterans who underwent pioneering surgery after suffering disfiguring injuries in World War Two. Dr Sandy Saunders, a 93-year-old veteran who organised the memorial to the Guinea Pig Club, said it was a “fantastic” tribute. Dr Saunders, badly burned in a plane

In his latest article looking at places and buildings remembered by the Guinea Pig Club Bob Marchant, Museum Trustee and Secretary of the Club, looks at Dutton Homestall. Dutton Homestall, which later became known as Stoke Brunswick School, in Ashurst Wood is another place remembered by some of the Guinea

On Friday 20th May East Grinstead Museum received a visit from members of the Guinea Pig Club, their supporters and friends on the occasion of the Club’s last ever Annual General Meeting. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the formation of the world famous Club whose members were the